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‘Binders full of women’

10/17/12 10:01 AMUpdated 09/06/13 07:02 AM

Objective observers can agree that President Obama’s debate performance two weeks ago fell far short, but the setback featured one saving grace: there was no moment. Obama was off his game, but there wasn’t a major, high-profile, embarrassing setback that could be replayed over and again.

By this measure, Mitt Romney’s defeat last night was even worse, because he teed up all kinds of moments. He embarrassed himself on Benghazi; he was laughed at over the size of his pension; and of course he offered the political world the gift of “binders full of women.”

The question was excellent: “In what new ways do you intend to rectify the inequalities in the workplace, specifically regarding females making only 72 percent of what their male counterparts earn?” It was an easy one for Obama – he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law and has an excellent record when it comes to appointing women to key positions.

It’s more of a problem for Romney, who refuses to even give an opinion on the Ledbetter law; who suggested last night that some women need to leave work early to “make dinner” for their kids; and who defended his record by saying he sought and received “binders full of women” when looking to fill his gubernatorial cabinet.

The ridicule is still going strong 12 hours later. It shows no signs of abating.

Let’s quickly set the record straight.

First, Romney’s story about seeking women applicants was a lie. Second, during Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital, there were exactly zero women partners (not enough binders?). Third, during his one term as governor, he invalidated a half-dozen executive orders establishing affirmative action policies for women.

And this doesn’t even touch on the fact that Romney won’t endorse the pending Violence Against Women Act; Romney took the coward’s way out when Limbaugh targeted Sandra Fluke; Romney has offered support for a “Personhood” measure that’s so extreme it would ban some forms of birth control; Romney intends to destroy the Affordable Care Act, which would be a huge setback millions of women; and Romney’s running mate has one of the worst voting records on women’s issues in Congress.